Q & A with Maeve O'Meara

Nathan Olivieri

Can we use the term ''Australian cuisine'' any more? What does that term mean now?

The term is part of a great food revolution. I think Australia is one of the most exciting places to come and eat because we're evolving all the time. I've been out filming in the suburbs and in the far reaches of Australia for 20 years and it's vibrant and, while not necessarily the food of restaurants and cities, it's this fabulous, interesting, exciting and ever-changing mix. I think this desire to find a single dish that defines us as an eating destination is probably a little simplistic. We are so much more fabulous, broad and delicious than that.

Do you think there's another country in the world as culinarily diverse as Australia?

I would find it hard to come up with somewhere that has Australia's breadth and depth. It's interesting, as well, to look at that 20-year continuum, for 20 years ago we wouldn't have filmed a Laotian episode, because those people were still coming, or the Afghan episode, as most of those people arrived in the last 10 years. For all the cuisines we cover in this series, the pride in where you're from and the link to culture is so crucial. We're ever-evolving.

What is the most valuable thing you've learnt from your travelling?

What a wonderful thing food is in a taste sense but also in a family, generational and community sense. It really is the glue that binds, it's the thing that brings people together. Also, for me personally, most of the recipes we see on the show I will come home and cook because I've loved them so much I want to share them with my family. It's part of the thread of Food Safari, this spreading-out, these tentacles of food discovery.

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Food Safari holds a significant household focus as well. How do you track down the families you feature in the show?

I think we're blessed both with the connections we've made over the years and our great researchers. Some of them are people we've known, some for many years, and it's such a joy to be able to tap into them and have their trust to capture what they do on screen. Others are from approaching community groups, basically doing our homework. Most people that appear on the show have never been on television before and then suddenly have a TV crew in their kitchen, but they absolutely sparkle. They're so funny and down to earth. It helps being in your own kitchen and backyard.

Who do you think is a bigger inspiration - the professional chef or the stay-at-home cook?

People love seeing kitchens like their own. I think the things that really inspire are ordinary people, ordinary backyards, barbecues that look like the one you have at home and ingredients that you can find and source. I think there's room for both but home wins hands down.

What's the worst dish you've eaten on the show?

It's actually in the South American episode of [this series] - you can see it in the out-takes at the end. It's a dish called ''chinchulines'', the second stomach of the cow. We had this beautiful Argentinian-style barbecue but on the second barbecue they had the science-experiment section of all the offal. It's that thing you just have to grow up with. I took a slice and it was like rubber on the outside and liquid fat on the inside and it was just so awful I actually put my hand in my mouth and took it out, almost unconsciously.